Joe sat alone, eating his lunch on the roof of the school. Gomamon had for once, fallen asleep in his bookbag, and so he was left in silence. Silence he spent observing her. She was sitting at a picnic table, surrounded by a cluster of the most popular kids in the school. She was the center of attention, as usual. The other popular girls were surrounding her, as usual. "Mimi..." her name involuntarily crossed his lips. He slapped himself mentally. You idiot! Such a popular girl would never like a geek like you. Honestly. A guy hoping to become a doctor, and you're staring like a freak at the school's social queen. She'll never like you in that way. She's too busy with all her cool friends. Just then the group was joined by another couple, two that Joe knew. Sora and Tai. It defied his reasoning. Sora was a tomboy, not at all girlish. Not completely without female charms (just ask Tai), but not frilly and lacy, or ultra-cool like most of Mimi's clique. When they'd met, the rumor was that Mimi intended to give Sora some fashion tips and try to make her cool, but Mimi never had. She'd insisted that Sora be welcomed into her group just like any of the other kids. When Tai and Sora had started dating, the invitation had extended to him, but he was not quite so wont to hang out with them as Sora was. Joe watched. Sora was treated just like the rest of them, Tai as well. Not that either of them wasn't cool, they were just a different kind of cool than Mimi's kind. But it didn't bother Mimi. If the pops didn't like her friends, she'd tell them to stuff it, she was hanging with the ones she knew would stand beside her. Even among all the whirl of her world of fashion and reputation, Mimi was one-hundred-percent down-to-earth real. Still, Joe chafed inwardly. She could never like him, not in that way. Tai and Sora are soccer stars, so the kids in Mimi's clique deal with their looks in exchange for having jocks in their group. I'm different. I'm not a cool dresser, I don't have any athletic skills. I'd never fit in with her crowd. Gomamon stirred, and Joe hurriedly attacked his lunch, to get enough to sustain him before Goma was begging him for half. "Hey, Joe, you're thinking." "Yeah, well, I do a lot of thinking. I'm studying to be a doctor, remember?" "But you're not thinking of medical stuff." Joe was amazed at how easily Goma exasperated him. "Gomamon. Please. I'm eating." "You're irritated." "Would you feel better if I admitted that I am irritated?" "Yes." "Fine. I'm very irritated." Gomamon laughed. "My work here is done. Hey, if you're not going to eat that--"

Joe was on his way out the school building when he spotted the flyer. "SPRING DANCE!" the headline read, then went on to detail that it was being held one week from Friday night and that any of the kids in seventh grade or above were welcome, and all that other stuff. Joe had never really cared about any of that stuff. He'd never been to a dance, didn't even know how to dance. He'd never asked a girl on a date, never been kissed. He'd never really had a crush until Mimi. She'd matured in the last few months. Early last summer she'd been--to him, at least--an irritating thirteen-year-old ditz, who hung with the popular group for the sake of popularity, cared far too much about appearance, and generally not being someone he would consider dating. But after their DigiWorld adventures, where she had grown and changed so much he was finally able to see her true outstanding qualities of sincerity and honesty, he had developed a liking for her. Her recent style change--from country to sleek, pink cowgirl hat to pink hair--appealed to him, too. She was the most popular girl in school but was no longer snotty about it. She had become a beautiful, caring fourteen-year-old girl, who hung with who she liked, had her own unique style, and made him wish he could go about asking her on a date.Hey...spring dance...well-chaperoned, in public, get to put my arms around her...this might work. Then he remembered his lack of dancing ability. Scratch that. On his way across the parking lot to his car--rather, his hand-me-down rattletrap--he bumped into Izzy. "Hey, Joe." "Oh, hi, Izzy." "Are you on your way home?" "Yeah...you want a ride?" "Sure." Izzy and Joe climbed into the station wagon. Joe's father had hit his mid-life crisis just before Joe's sixteenth birthday, and so since he'd bought himself a brand-new sportscar, and Jim had saved up and had his own new (used) car, Joe had bargained with his dad and bought the ancient family car for a song. (And the repainting of most of the apartment's interior.) Gomamon and Motimon sat in the backseat. Izzy opened his laptop, but Joe started a conversation and for once he ignored the computer. "Hey, Izzy, did you read about the spring dance?" "Yes. Do you mean to say that you--Joe Kido--actually saw and comprehended a poster for a dance? Which evil Digimon took over your body?" Joe laughed. It was about the last thing he'd expected to ask Izzy about. "I was just wondering if you knew if anyone was going." "Well, Tai and Sora, of course. T.K. and Kari are too young. And, um, Matt, me, and you don't have dates, and I haven't heard about Mimi. You don't have a date, do you?" "No. Matt can get a date easily enough, but you and I have something in common in the fact that neither one of us really ever needed one." "Needed? You having girl troubles?" Izzy asked. "I guess. Here's your apartment building." "Yeah. See you later, Joe." "Bye." Izzy got Motimon out of the backseat and left Joe to worry over it himself.

Mimi stared at herself in the mirror. She was on the phone with Sora, painting her nails at the same time. "So I guess Tai's taking you to the dance next week?" "Yeah. Can you help me pick out an outfit on Saturday? I'm taking an extended trip to the mall..." "You bet! You know shopping is my kind of thing." "That's for sure! Hey, what about you? Have you got a date? Are you even going?" Mimi sighed. "I had a few offers today after they put up the posters, but no, I refused them all." Sora laughed. "Well, you can afford to be picky. Me, I'm happy with Taichi and I'd never refuse him if I had hundreds of other guys asking, but you can turn 'em down. Waiting for any special guy?" Mimi laughed. "Yeah. Prince Charming." "Oh, come on, seriously?" "Oh, Sora, I can't tell you. It's like telling someone a wish. It'll never come true." "Come on...you know I won't laugh, or tell anyone else. Tell me tell me tellme tellme tellmetellmetellmetellmetellmetellme..." "All right! I'll tell you!" "That's better!" Sora laughed. "Now tell me!" "Well, he's a tall, dark-haired, fair-skinned, dark-eyed upperclassman..." "How old?" "Sixteen." "Oooh, Mimi, going for a real oldie, aren't we?" "Sora! Be nice! I'm telling you, aren't I?" "Yeah, go on. Is he cute?" "He's hot! But..." "But? I don't like buts from you, Mimi. They mean there's really something to be concerned about or you've slipped into being superficial." Sora, being her best friend, had right to insult her like that when it was necessary. "Oh, Sora, he's never had a girlfriend, never been to a dance, nothing. He's kind of shy and quiet." "Well? Who is he?" Sora burst out. "You know him..." Mimi started. "I didn't think I knew any shy, quiet, dark-haired hotties. Who?" Mimi pulled in a breath. "Well, Sora...I have a crush on Joe." Sora squealed. "Joe? Our Joe? Joe Kido?" "Yes, our Joe! I want him to ask me to the dance, but he barely even knows I exist!" "Well, do something about it! You have a lot of feminine charm on your side, Mimi. You can easily get him to notice you." "I know, I can get any guy to notice me, to see me. But I don't want him to just be wowed by my looks. I want him to think of them as...as..." "A side benefit in a great package deal?" Sora suggested. "Yeah! Exactly! When I turn on the looks, turn on the charm, any guy will be my slave, but they never get to know me. I want him to be a friend and a boyfriend." "Oh, Mimi, just put yourself out there. Stop and talk to him once or twice. He'll get the message." "Well, we'll see. Hey, what are you thinking of buying when we go shopping?..."

Joe slumped in his chair in front of his desk. He heard Jim drive up and enter the house. He left his nearly-finished homework and went to say hello. "Hi, Jim, it's me." "Well, me, you're being awfully sociable today." "Ha ha. My homework is almost done. I need a snack. You came in. Perfect timing. We can share something to eat." Joe opened the fridge and began looking through its messy contents. "You, my young friend, have got something on your mind." "Not that young. Only a year behind you. And what do you care if I do have something on my mind?" "Oh, come on, you are my ototochan, as much as you hate to admit it. So what's going through that head of yours?" Joe sighed, but thought about it. Who better to ask about this than his brother? His brother who had been dating since he was fourteen and going with the same girl for the past two years? "Hey, Jim, how did you ask Dana out?" "I called her on the phone and asked if she wanted to go on a date." "I mean, the first time." "Oh! Well, that was different. Why? You got a girl troubling you? I heard from one of my friends that there's a dance coming up..." "Yeah. I have a girl I want to ask to the dance." "I see. I didn't know you could dance." Joe blushed. "I can't." "Can she?" "Well, yeah. She's the most popular girl in school." "There you go. Ask her to teach you to dance, so you can ask 'a girl', so you get all that alone time beforehand, and then when you're done tell her the girl is her." Joe tilted his head. "That could work...she's DigiDestined, so it's not like she doesn't know me..." "Perfect! Do you need any more help?" "No..." "Then get back to your homework."

The next day, Joe stopped at Mimi's locker and waited for her to show up. She was surprised to see him there, and her heart skipped a beat. Maybe he's going to ask me to the dance! "Hi, Mimi," he said, casually. At least he tried. It sounded funny, very tense to him. "Hi, Joe," she said, almost equally nervous. "I...I have something...something to ask you." "Oh?" Mimi tried to keep herself calm, thinking she knew what was coming. "I...that is...can you...could you...could we...can you teach me to dance?" Mimi shrank back. "What?" "You see, there's this girl...I want to take her to the dance a week from tonight and I can't dance." Mimi wanted to cry, but she couldn't. And she couldn't tell him no. She had no good reason not to. Besides, this way she could enjoy the time in his arms, touching him, being near to him... "Of...course...Joe...can you came over to my place tonight?" His heart rose within him. And yet... She looked like she was repulsed by the idea! But at least she hasn't turned me away! "Tonight's great!"

Mrs. Tachikawa watched as her daughter sorted through her CD collection, placing the ones with any good dancing music in a pile, ready and waiting by the stereo. "Now, Mimi, dear, tell me again who's coming over?" "He's just a friend, Mama. Remember I told you there are other kids with Digimon like Palmon?" "Yes, I remember that. You call yourselves...DigiDestined?" "Yes. Joe is one of us DigiDestined, and he wants a crash course in dancing because he wants to ask some girl to the Spring Dance next Friday." "You think you can teach him in six nights?" "I'll teach him in two." Mimi pulled a CD from the bottom of a stack. "Hey! This is my Britney Spears CD from America! I've been looking for this!" She tossed it toward the pile of ones to teach Joe to dance to. "Mama, there's a picture on the bedside table of all us DigiDestined if you want to see a picture of him." Mrs. Tachikawa picked up one of the frames with bright pink butterflies on it. "This one?" "Yes. He's the tall one, third from the left. The one with glasses and Gomamon sitting on his head." "I'm not sure what a Gomamon is, but there's only one kid with any Digimon on his head. Tall, dark hair, dark eyes?" "Yeah." "He's pretty cute, hon," Mrs. Tachikawa told her daughter. "Oh, Mama, we're just friends. Don't be silly." Mrs. Tachikawa smiled. "Well, all right, dear, if you insist, I won't say anything." The doorbell rang. Mimi looked up from her CD pile. "That must be him." She went to get the door and her mother left the room, too.

Joe stood at the door. "Hi, Mimi," he said as she answered. "Hi, Joe! I figured we'd get right to work. Come on, I have plenty of music ready..." She grabbed his arm and dragged him to her room. He'd been there before, but never without the other DigiDestined. He now took time to notice the vibrant pink of the walls and the many cool accessories scattered about. He was sure he'd never seen so much pink leopard print. He saw a throw pillow with the word "Princess" embroidered across it, and a myriad of things with fuzzy fabric and bright colors. "What dances do you want to learn?" she asked, jerking him out of his state of observation. She looked so hot with that hand on her hip, remote in her hand to start whatever necessary music. "Whatever they're likely to do at the dance." She sighed. "This could take a while." They spent two hours with all the dances that were popular. None of them required that they touch in any manner other than to hold hands occasionally. Joe caught on quicker than Mimi had dared to hope, maybe he would only need one lesson despite her generosity in putting her guess down at two. He was about to suggest that they try a slow dance when he noticed the clock. "Oh, Mimi, I need to hurry home. We didn't get to do any slow dances. I can't come over the weekend, and I have a big test to study for Monday night. Can I come Tuesday night at the same time?" Mimi nodded. "I don't have any plans." "Okay, then, 'bye!" Joe left in a hurry. Mimi shut off the music and called Sora. When Sora was finally on the line, Mimi burst into tears. "Sorrrrraaaaa! He doesn't like me at aaaaall!" "Mimi, what happened?" Sora asked. Mimi had told her about the dance lesson, and Sora had been almost as happy for Mimi as Mimi had been herself. "Oh, Sora, we danced for two hours--we didn't get to do any slow dances--he's coming again Tuesday--he's better than I thought--but he...just...leeeeeffffft!" "He didn't ask you?" "Remember, he said he had someone he wanted to ask. I should have known better than to get a crush on a guy so much older. He's probably got some blond sophomore chick..." "Mimi! Settle down! I'm sure someone else will ask you to the dance. You won't be short a date." Mimi sniffled. "I know...but...I wanted hiiiiim..." "I know, but there's nothing you can do but accept someone else's offer and hope to have a good time." "How can I have a good time if he's there swinging with some ditzy chick?" "Oh, Mimi. You can be a heartbreaker, too. Wait until a really, really hot guy asks you, and flaunt him in Joe's face. It'll serve him right for missing out on a date with the coolest chick ever!" Mimi decided that Sora was right. "Okay. I'll do it."

Monday afternoon, Mimi was kicking a soccer ball around the school field. She wasn't playing, but just bored. "Hey, Mimi," a voice called from behind her. She turned to see Matt. "Hey, Matt. What's up?" "Well, I was wondering if you had a date for the dance yet." Mimi looked at him. The way Matt carried himself, his smooth attitude towards girls, his incredible hotness...it was enough to melt any girl's heart, and Mimi was no exception. Sora had said to get herself a hot guy...what guy was there hotter than Ishida? "No...I don't." "Oh, that's cool. Would you like to go with me?" "Sure!" "I'll warn you, a few of my friends and I got together a band and the dance is our first gig. I just sing, though, until I get a little better with the guitar, so at the dance I won't have to be up there during the instrumentals. That's the stuff that's really fun to dance to." "All right. Pick me up at seven and don't be late." He nodded and she ran off.

The next night Joe showed up at her door. Again, she led him into her room and started the music, only this time the music was considerably slower. "Okay, Joe, when you go to hold your girl, you do it like this." She took his hands in her own and wrapped his arms around her body just right, carefully placing his hands where they needed to be. It felt so good. She reveled in it. Sure, she had a date with Matt, but it was just that--a date. She wasn't going to be his girlfriend or anything. She didn't care about him that way. Joe was enjoying his own part of it, and for a few heart-pounding seconds he was tempted to abandon his plan and just lean down and kiss her like he had been longing to do. The heat of her body so near his own made his blood race... She broke his trance before he could follow its impulses. "And then the steps are like this," Mimi said, moving her feet, letting him follow for a moment. Then she let him lead. They danced around her room, silent, looking into each other's eyes.Mimi...you shouldn't be thinking like this...he's already found a girl, and apparently he's pretty happy with her. He's thinking of her now, you can see it in his eyes, and he's dreamily happy. Don't complicate things for him. Besides, you have a date for the dance. If this girl says no, or if she says yes and then dumps him afterward you can make a move.Darn, Mimi, did you have to be so hot tonight? You're so gorgeous...you make me want to just kiss you now and take you out joyriding and then we can get out somewhere and I can hold you in my arms, just like now, with no music but your own sweet voice, and go on dancing forever and ever and ever... Mimi decided she had better break the spell before it got them both into trouble. "So...who's the lucky girl?" she asked him. Almost immediately his arms pulled away from her body, just a little. "I...I uh..." "Oh, it's okay if you'd rather not say right now. Say, Tai and Sora, you and your girl, and me and Matt could all go together! Doesn't that sound like fun?" "You and Matt?" Joe pulled himself entirely out of her embrace. She misread his action. "He won't mind that I'm helping you out. It's just one date for us, anyway." "Uh, Mimi, have I learned everything I need to know about dancing?" "Well...yes..." "Then I need to go. Uh, bye!" He ran for the door and was speeding off as fast as his station wagon could take him. Mimi sank to her floor and began to cry. "I can't believe he's so eager to leave me! Why me? Why is Sora so happy and I fall for a guy who will never like me?"

Joe turned his radio on and up on the way home. He found music similar to what Mimi had played the night he'd learned the modern dances, and comforted himself with the fact that he could listen to her music and be reminded of her. He'd been right all along, he didn't belong in her group. She was better suited with someone like Matt, someone cool. He was sure Matt could make her happier than he could.Why did I ever have to fall for her?

Things went along the rest of the week, Sora called Mimi every night after her date with Tai so Mimi could whine about Joe. Sora put up with it in a "this too shall pass" attitude. Mimi moped around the house, not daring to tell her mother or her father what had happened. She was sure they would never understand, especially since she had a date with Matt, and she'd probably get in trouble for a having a guy she had a crush on in her room. Joe moped just as much, until finally Jim made him tell him what had happened. "Oh, Joe. Now you're up a creek." "I knew that!" "If you don't show, she'll know, and if you do show, she'll really know. Of course if you don't show, even alone, she'll be mad that you didn't at least come to show off your new moves." "So what do I do?" Joe asked his brother, exasperated. "Go and show off those moves! I saw you practicing, you're pretty good." "Really?" Joe brightened, dreams of Mimi seeing him dance and leaving Matt in a cloud of dust for him dancing in his mind. "Well...for a beginner." Joe sweatdropped. Finally he said, "Well, okay, I'll go."

The night of the dance, Mimi put on her new outfit. She'd taken Sora shopping and bought herself an outfit, too. Mimi thought she looked pretty good in the short, close-fitting blue skirt and matching-color t-shirt with the hot pink butterflies all over it. Matt wasn't late, in fact he came early to get there in time to help the band with final preparations. He was in a black dress shirt and blue jeans, and Mimi couldn't help but notice how little it affected her. All the girls there will be swooning and here I am not caring less. I must have it bad for Joe. At the dance, Matt went over with his band, and left Mimi to fend for herself. She quickly found Tai and Sora. The outfit she'd helped Sora pick had had the desired effect on Tai, judging by the huge goofy grin on his face. Sora was in a swingy, knee-length dark green skirt and a lighter green button-front shirt over a black t-shirt. "Hey, girl!" Mimi cried. "What's up?" "Not much until Matt's band gets going." "Yeah, the school people have been playing seventies music..." Tai said. Mimi sweatdropped. "Eww..." Finally, Matt's band got going. Matt sang one song, and then he left the stage to dance with Mimi while the band played instrumentals. Mimi was having a "good time," but she wasn't really thrilled, truly enjoying herself. Matt held her very close and she could feel his breath on her neck, but it was meaningless to her as long as she thought of Joe. About an hour into the dance, Matt got up to sing a few songs. Tai took Mimi for one spin around the floor on Sora's suggestion, but it wasn't a slow dance. During the time Matt was singing, Joe walked in. Mimi was the first to see him. "Hi, Joe!" "Mimi!" He came over to her. "Hey, where's--oh, she said no, didn't she? I'm sorry, Joe." "It's all right, Mimi. I figured I may as well come and show off what I learned anyway." Mimi smiled. "Well, you need a partner. Since my date has abandoned me--" Mimi held out a hand toward the stage-- "I'd be glad to fill in until he finishes." "Okay."At least we can have one dance together... Joe thought.At least I'll have one dance that feels right... Mimi thought. The music changed to a slow song just then, and Mimi stepped into his arms. She reveled in his gentle touch, he was glad for the chance to give it. If only it could go on forever. After that song, Matt started on the next. "It's tearin' up my heart when I'm with you, but when we are apart I feel it too, and no matter what I do I feel the pain, with or without you..."How uncanny, Joe thought, letting go of her for the faster dance.Joe, that's how I feel now...

"Hey...Baby, I don't understand,Just why we can't be lovers.Things are getting out of hand,Trying too much, but baby, we can win,Let it go...If you want me, girl, let me knowI am down on my knees,I can't take it anymore

It's tearin' up my heart when I'm with you,But when we are apart, I feel it too,And no matter what I do, I feel the painWith or without you...

Baby, don't misunderstandWhat I'm tryin' to tell ya,In the corner of my mind,Baby, it feels like we're running out of timeLet it go...If you want me, girl, let me knowI am down on my knees,I can't take it anymore

It's tearin' up my heart when I'm with you,But when we are apart, I feel it too,And no matter what I do, I feel the painWith or without you...

Tearin' up my heart and soul,When we're apart I feel it too,And no matter what I do, I feel the pain...With or without you...

It's tearin' up my heart when I'm with you,But when we are apart, I feel it too,And no matter what I do, I feel the painWith or without you...

And no matter what I do, I feel the painWith or without you..."

Should I tell her? Will Matt be hurt? It was never going to be more than one date even if Joe's mystery girl had come, and since she turned him down, I have a chance... "Mimi?" Joe asked, pulling her from her thoughts. "Yes?" Mimi asked him excitedly. "Can we get off the dance floor for a minute?" "Sure..." Joe took her arm and led her towards a dark corner of the room. "Mimi, my date never said no. I just didn't get a chance to ask her. I was going to Tuesday night but she let me know before I got a chance that she had already accepted an invitation to go with one of our school's most popular guys. I decided to just back off if it made her happy. Most people think that they make a great couple, he's the most popular guy, she's the most popular girl, if they were old enough for prom they'd probably be homecoming king and queen." "Joe, why are you telling me all this?" "Because all of a sudden I'm not sure he's making her happy. Mimi, are you having a good time with Matt? Really? Are you happy?" Matt was still singing in the background. She thought it might hurt him, but it would just have to hurt him, then. The bearer of the Crest of Sincerity couldn't lie about a matter so close to her heart. "Oh, Joe...you're right...I'm not happy. The only one who can make me happy...is you!" Joe's eyes widened in surprise and his glasses slid down his nose. "Me?!" She pushed the glasses back into place. "I was hoping all along that you'd ask me to the dance, and when you left the other night, I thought you had someone else to ask...so when Matt asked me, I had no idea that you wanted to...oh, Joe!" She threw herself into his arms and he hugged her back. Another slow song had started and they stepped out onto the floor. This time she leaned into him, and he caressed her gently while they turned. About halfway through the song she looked up into his dark eyes at the same instant he looked down into her brown ones, and the look carried a feeling so intense that neither one could stop themselves from carrying out the impulse that Joe had barely been able to repress only a few nights before. Their lips met in a passionate kiss. The song abruptly ended. Matt stopped singing and the band screeched to a halt. Matt jumped down off the stage and walked up to Joe, putting a hand on his shoulder and jerking him away from Mimi. "What do you think you're doing with my date?" Mimi stood between them, her shoulder under Joe's arm. "Matt, he isn't doing anything that I don't want him to..." Matt dropped his hand from Joe's shoulder down to Mimi's and pulled her away from him, pushing her behind him. Mimi tried to get Matt to stop. "Matt, I said--" Matt wasn't listening to her. "Joe, what do you have to say for yourself?" Joe quivered, but stood his ground. If he was going to get beat up over Mimi it might as well be sooner than later. "I say that I care about her more than you ever did, and that her wishes should be our command. Whoever she chooses, it should be her choice." Matt frowned. "All right, Mimi? Which of us is it?" He turned around to face her. Mimi had tears in her eyes. She should have come alone, she never should have accepted Matt's offer. Now her new-found love and an old, dear friend were going to fight, and she had clearly made her choice. "Matt, I'm sorry, but I wanted Joe to ask me to this dance anyway. A little misunderstanding made me think that he was going to ask someone else, so I accepted your invitation, but Joe and I both found out that we've had...feelings...toward each other for quite a while...and when he kissed me...I wanted him to as much as he wanted to do it." Sora had come up behind her best friend during her little speech, and was ready to take Mimi's side. "If that's what you want, Mimi, fine with me," Matt said. "Sorry I had to make such a big deal." He turned to go back up on stage. She caught his shoulder and turned him to face her. "Don't be mad, please, Matt. I don't--never did--truly care about you like I do Joe, but for there to be a rift among us DigiDestined would be horrible. No hard feelings?" She stuck a hand out toward him. "No hard feelings," Matt agreed, and shook her hand. "In fact, the next song's for you." Matt got back up on stage and sang a slow but happy love song. Mimi and Joe enjoyed the slow dance. After that song, Joe drove Mimi home. She clung to his arm as much as she could without hampering his driving. "Hey, Mimi, let's go on a real date tomorrow night," he suggested. "Okay, on one condition." "What's that?" "Monday morning at school, I get to start calling you my boyfriend." "You can start now, girlfriend." "Okay," Mimi smiled. He leaned down and kissed her again. "See you tomorrow night?" "I'll call you tomorrow morning." "I won't drive off until I know you're in your apartment." "Okay." She got out of the car and left, waving when she reached her door. He flicked the lights and drove off into the night.